Phaeton and Icarus
by Publius Ovidius Nasty
Summary: An Epyllion of Phaeton and Icarus. Slash fiction.
I'd invoke the Muse,

But she's a bitch.

If you're going to look for a moral

To this story,

Wait until the end.

So Phaeton and Icarus,

They were boyfriends.

But, you see,

Helios was a devout

Heterosexual,

And Daedalus, well

He had political

Stuff.

He said his position

Was too high

For a scandal.

And Clymene–

Phaeton's mom–

Said he lowered

His father's stance

With such a relationship.

Phaeton was in hot water.

His mother–

Who, by the way,

Was married

To another guy–

Wouldn't shut up

About how in-

Fucking-

Credible Helios was,

And she yelled at

And scolded

And berated

And lectured

Her son.

Icarus got lost

Somewhere in the middle of

His father's lectures.

He never really listened to them.

They just had to escape

Their parents.

They wrote each other

Secret letters,

As they could not

Escape

Their parents' watchful eyes.

They made a plan so perfect,

So concise,

So simple,

It was as if their lives

Were constructed

For their perfect future

Together, as

Though this were

Intended by the Moirai.

Daedalus, even with his

Stuff,

Was still building new things,

Perfect things for Icarus.

And Phaeton

Just had to go see his

Dick father–

Who he actually

Had never met–

And take his

Fancy chariot.

He always wanted to

Take it for a spin.

Icarus thought

Larceny

Was a pretty good idea.

He, along with

His love,

Liked to make mischief.

The two were

So cute together,

So in line with each other's

Thinking.

With a plan in place,

Phaeton asked Clymene

Where his father lived.

After an hour of the nymph

Verbally

Jizzing

Over her old booty call,

She finally told the boy

Where to find the "big, strong,

Amazingly endowed god of daylight."

So Phaeton set out

For his father's

Summer home

In Japan.

Meanwhile, shit got weird for

Icarus. Daedalus'

Stuff

Screwed him in the end.

His whole career unspooled

On him. He was trapped

Under the psychotic eye

Of Generalissimo Minos.

He had to move his projects

Underground. He lost his funding,

Slowing down his most ambitious project,

The one icarus needed to steal.

Life was so unfair.

At that point, you'd think dear old

Daed could maybe relax

About having

A homo for a son, but no.

The only things that made that hell

A little better were

The letters brought by Cupid.

It paid to have a boyfriend

With useful boarding school buddies.

It was a long trip for Phaeton.

He walked and rode for miles through—

Fuck it.

Just fuck it.

Nobody cares how he got there.

You don't care.

Anyway, he got to Japan

Hours before sunrise.

The palace of Helios was impressive,

But his mother definitely

Exaggerated the size.

Entering the palace, he snuck past

The many serving ladies: the Hours,

The Days, the Years, the Weeks,

The Months, the Minutes, the Seconds and

The Centuries,

On his way to the stable.

When he got there, he was

A little surprised to meet

His stepmom,

Amaterasu.

She glared at him and barked,

"The fuck are you?"

And he stood proudly

And replied, "I am Phaeton.

And, like, my dad owns this chariot.

He said "I, was, whatever,

Bequeathed this chariot

From him to drive today…

On a loan."

He thought she was

Another servant.

The Millennium or something.

She lost her shit.

"Bitch! I own this chariot.

Your 'dad' married into _my_ fortune,

For I am Amaterasu, goddess of the sun,

And this chariot is his responsibility.

No one but him can ride it."

And again she asked, "The fuck are you?"

Phaeton felt his balls shrivel

And he said,

"Yeah, I lied about the last part,

But I am actually his son.

You know,

Your husband has a wandering dick.

Hopefully that's not,

Like, a big surprise.

I'm a lot like him,

Except my dick just wants to wander

To one place, but it's a guy's

um, place.

Icarus.

His… place…"

His eyes glazed

With his mind's image

Of Icarus and his gorgeous

Naked body,

Of days they could spend

Together,

Forever.

Away from fathers

And mothers

And stepmoms.

Away

From laws and relations

And positions

And scandals and

Stuff.

His mind filled with fire,

A fire that simmered

Since he and his love

Were pulled from

Each other's embrace

By ignorance

And hatred

And laws

And morals.

Letters for months

Were never enough.

He wanted to hold Icarus again,

Skin to skin,

Lip to lip

Eyes meeting,

Pores opening,

As sweat glistened and slid

Down their bodies,

Mixing together

Until there was no

Distinction between the two,

Just a concoction that could

Only be called their own.

Two beings, living and dying

Together

And joining the stars in heaven.

His mind was so inflamed by passion,

Consumed by his impending goal,

And he did not realize

That he had grabbed his father's

Golden bow

Hanging on the wall

And pointed an arrow

At his stepmom's

Head.

He stared in her steely

Eyes

His uncertain voice fluttered.

"I'm stealing this shit!"

He jumped on the chariot,

Whipped the reins,

And launched into the sky.

That night, Icarus was prepared.

His father had

Completed his project

Only a week before.

Cupid came to him in the night

Bringing Phaeton's latest letter.

"He's almost there" said Cupid,

"Go live your lives

And love every moment

That you can have together.

It can all go away too soon.

I would do all I can to see my Psyche

For one more moment,

And eternity is just a moment, anyway.

Your dreams are ahead. Nothing should

Stop you

From finding eternity

Together."

With a nod of his head, he soared into the

Sky, Icarus studying how he flew,

Leaving the boy

To steal his father's

Project

And fly to his love,

His moment,

His eternity.

He tiptoed past his father,

Sleeping Daedalus,

Into the basement,

To the workbench,

To the project.

Each feather, tied along a wax curve

Grew longer and longer

On the way to the tip,

And down so light

His breath blew it like a wind storm

Covered the whole shape

Of each wing.

He stacked them

Atop each other,

And ran

On his toes

Out of his prison

Onto the roof,

Looking east

As the sun rose early.

Phaeton's knees were weak.

The horses bucked

And whipped

Back and forth

Like they'd never been tamed.

He looked back

At his stepmom's castle.

His father,

The asshole,

Stood by the gate

With Amaterasu,

Staring, confused,

At the chariot

That ran westward

To a fated moment.

The lovers

Were ready

To see

Each other.

Icarus put on the wings

As the dawn zigzagged

Over the earth,

Racing across the sky.

He faced the wind

And spread his arms,

Rocketing him up

Past the clouds.

He appeared as a dot

In his lover's vision;

His lover, whose

Eye

Was caught by a winged

Figure. A happy shadow

Beyond a violent glare.

Phaeton fired his golden arrows

At the beasts in the stars,

Wrapping the reins around his wrists,

The leather tightening,

His arms bleeding.

Icarus

Flew to the fiery chariot

Pumping his arms

Until his chest

Felt like it would

Split open

And the leather ties

Cut into his wrists,

Fusing with the flesh

Of his bleeding arms.

Both battered, weakened,

Bloody young lovers

Were now so close they could see

Their faces.

Icarus smiled at Phaeton,

Whose eyes betrayed terror,

As he saw his boyfriend's wings

Melting in the heat of the chariot.

Icarus followed Phaeton's eyes

To the wax that dripped onto his arm,

Pouring into

His open wrists.

He began to fall.

Phaeton,

He couldn't think about anything

But love.

He jumped out of the chariot.

The reins dug down to the bone.

He hung below the horses, pulling them

Down

Toward the sea,

Toward Icarus

Whose wings melted more and more,

The wax covering his arms

And chest,

Burning every inch of his skin,

Making a statue

Of his perfect body

As he spun and somersaulted

Down to the water

Below.

Phaeton twisted

His wrists

To get out of the reins,

Pulling the skin off of his hands

Like a glove,

Shocking every sense

With pain.

His eyes shut

And tightened

Against his will

And a fever rose in his head

As his claws

Reached down to Icarus.

The boy with wings stared up,

Unable to close his arms,

As the wax held them to the side.

He saw sharp bones

Extended toward him

From above,

Attached to a wincing face

Eyes squinted shut

From burning pain,

Shooting to him like an arrow.

Phaeton forced his eyes open

As he fell closer

And closer

To Icarus, who,

With tears in his

Wide eyes,

Met his gaze.

The tips

Of what used to be fingers

Sunk into the wax

Of what used to be wings,

And the lovers' bodies

Slammed together,

Skin to wax,

Lips to wind,

Crying eyes straining to meet.

Blood mixed with sweat

With wax and spit

And tears,

A concoction that could only be called

Their own.

They burned together  
In pain,  
In wax,  
Breathing,  
Living  
And dying  
Together,  
Limbs aflame,  
Sinking from the stars,  
Away from a life together.  
Only a moment  
And that moment was an eternity.  
And the water rose  
And rose  
And rose  
And rose  
Until all came to a black  
Stop.

And the chariot crashed only

A mile away,

As farmers on a nearby hill

Ignored

The tumbling embrace

Of Phaeton and Icarus

Into the sea

But

Were burned to nothing

As their fields went up in

Black

Smoke.

And here's the moral of the story:


End file.
